Anatomy of a Photo: Hunchbacks of the 81 Tour

My friend and trainee Velominata Rachel has a keen cycling eye and an inquisitive mind. While perusing the book Tour de France/Tour de Force she happened upon this image of The Badger, Bernard Hinault, sprinting for a stage win in the 1981 Tour. We know this because the caption says so. And that is pretty much all it says; no other names, no photo credit, nothing.

Of course, I wanted to know who the other protagonists are. Some research into that year’s race, and the Wickes-Splendor team pointed to one of the riders being Eddy Planckaert, who won Stage 12 (*Part B) into Zolder. The other one though? Could it be old bro Walter? (Not likely, he finished way back that day.) Sean Kelly was on the team too, and was always up for a bunch gallop, but of course it looks nothing like the Irish hardman (his legs are uglier than those, says Rachel. And by ugly, I think she means awesome). No, my hunch is it is Guido Van Calster, as he took fourth on the stage that we whittled it down to. *Stage 12 was broken into Part A (Roubaix-Brussels, 107 km) and Part B (Brussels-Zolder, 133 km), both raced on the same day.

While not really interested in who the other riders were, the thing that stood out most to Rachel was the strange lumps on the riders’ backs. Not Camelbaks (because that would violate Rule #32, and they weren’t invented yet), probably not race radio transmitters (not sure if they were around then either). Not bidons (too square), not food (why have food stuffed down your jersey in a sprint?), so what the hell could they be?

Once again, we trust in the Velominatii to decipher the clues, and feast on the pure awesomeness of another great photo.

About Brett

An unwitting instigator of The Rules way back when, Brett is wont to occasionally violate some, flaunting his predilection for black socks, facial hair and frame pumps.

An Aussie living as a Kiwi, despite his geographical disadvantage the pavé and kassien of Belgium and Northern France hold a special place in his heart, and it’s where you’ll find him in Spring, either with a fine Belgian bike beneath him or a fine Belgian ale in his hand.

Sponge worthy indeed…but no, I have a different answer for the humps. The photo, in poster size, is in my LBS back on the East coast of the US. I have looked at it over the years and was struck by the humps too but it wasn’t until I was really hauling ass once when the light bulb went off. When really speeding along, Eddy Planckert-racing-that-hostile-French-fuck-Hinault-sprinting-speed*, a turbulent flow behind the head lifts the jersey off the shoulders and it flaps! I believe we are seeing the jerseys flapping and the camera freezes the flap. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

*What a photo! Think how fast these guys are going, faster than I will ever go on flat roads, faster by such a huge margin.

Interesting to note also, the previous stage to the one in question was from Compiegne to Roubaix, essentially throwing in a mini Paris-Roubaix into the race! Duclos-Lassale was 2nd, with Paul Sherwen 5th!

Great photo. I’m voting for the sponge explanation. Flapping in the wind would not generate such a uniform rectangular shape, or the stretch marks that you can see on the jersey of van Calster.

Another remarkable aspect of this picture is that Eddy Planckaert is wearing gloves. In my book, he is one of the true hardmen of all time. He almost never wore gloves. I still recall one of the spring classics around that time when, in Belgian springtime fashion it was sleeting and everyone was suffering but Eddy was riding hard, without gloves. An inspiration to me still when I go on winter rides, 30 years later.

At the time, all the other photographers said he was mad for attempting the shot as it’s so difficult to take this type of photo from the angle he was at – if I remember he said he was stood at about 100m from the lines – but it was the photo that let him break the big time.

The humps are indeed sponges. John said it was about 37c that day with very little wind.

As an aside, John used to have an amazing collection of bikes including the Vitus that Kelly won the Vuelta on (he’s great friends with the Kelly man). I’ve not seen him for a few years, but he’s a great guy with some great stories.

@F. Maertens Merckx and Hinault have won both the Tour and the Green Jersey, but Kelly was, provided the parcours wasn’t too hilly, in the hunt for both for a few years in the 80’s. Gilbert looked like a contender for the first fortnight of the Tour this year, and was mixing it up in the gallops. Very cool to see them do that.

I’m also browsing through some of my older cycling books and up to 1990, you saw GT contenders riding Roubaix et al. Riders were more well-rounded even as recently as that, and I think that was a really, really cool thing.

Merckx, in one of those books, comments that he never started a race he didn’t want to win. That’s why he’s the Prophet.

@F. Maertens Merckx and Hinault have won both the Tour and the Green Jersey, but Kelly was, provided the parcours wasn’t too hilly, in the hunt for both for a few years in the 80″²s. Gilbert looked like a contender for the first fortnight of the Tour this year, and was mixing it up in the gallops. Very cool to see them do that. I’m also browsing through some of my older cycling books and up to 1990, you saw GT contenders riding Roubaix et al. Riders were more well-rounded even as recently as that, and I think that was a really, really cool thing. Merckx, in one of those books, comments that he never started a race he didn’t want to win. That’s why he’s The Prophet.

Also, I think that Phil Anderson might qualify. Didn’t he finish top five (V) a few times and he seemed to sprint for all stages as well.

Just to dredge up an old article, I’ve just got to the bit of Fotheringham’s book on Hinault which clarifies exactly what is going on here.

It is the end of the stage, on a motor racing circuit. Hinault is not contesting the sprint at this point, he is leading out his team’s sprinter. In Yellow. You can just about see Freddy Maertens’ bars through Van Calster’s legs; Maertens came through and won the sprint and the stage.

Just to dredge up an old article, I’ve just got to the bit of Fotheringham’s book on Hinault which clarifies exactly what is going on here.

It is the end of the stage, on a motor racing circuit. Hinault is not contesting the sprint at this point, he is leading out his team’s sprinter. In Yellow. You can just about see Freddy Maertens’ bars through Van Calster’s legs; Maertens came through and won the sprint and the stage.

100% V.

And that’s one of the reasons I like Hinault. He knew that what goes around, comes around. You want the loyalty and hard work of teammates? Work on their behalf occasionally. Lead them out, give them a stage win. Unlike COTHO who had loyalty through fear and intimidation.

Glad you’re liking the book. I thought it was great and explained a lot of what drove Hinault and why he did what he did in 86. The man was hard-wired to win when it was a race he wanted. And he wanted the 86 Tour. The only problem was he’d given his word to help Greg and that was vitally important to him to honor that. He went about it in a strnge way, but untimately Greg won.

And that’s one of the reasons I like Hinault. He knew that what goes around, comes around. You want the loyalty and hard work of teammates? Work on their behalf occasionally. Lead them out, give them a stage win. Unlike COTHO who had loyalty through fear and intimidation.

Glad you’re liking the book. I thought it was great and explained a lot of what drove Hinault and why he did what he did in 86. The man was hard-wired to win when it was a race he wanted. And he wanted the 86 Tour. The only problem was he’d given his word to help Greg and that was vitally important to him to honor that. He went about it in a strnge way, but untimately Greg won.

Haven’t got that fair yet, I’m about halfway through, but very much enjoying it. I knew I would, Hinault has always fascinated/frightened me. Just got to the bit where Fignon joins the team and is quite happy to take the piss out of the Badger. Can’t imagine COTHO putting up with that.

Interesting how many different riders say that they think that at his peak Hinault was better than Merckx; De Vlaeminck for one after the Paris-Roubaix win.

I’ve tried not to comment on this thread (again) but I can’t help myself. Yes, that is one of the best cycling photos ever, I could stare at it for hours. And yes, Hinault was a complete beast.

I rode our club’s 75 mile reliability ride on the weekend, and as we got up into the mountains we found ourselves riding through sleet and over an inch of slush on the road. Made me think of Leige-Bastogne-Leige. Sadly, I got dropped a couple of kms from the top of the moor by the real beasts of the club.